Many of us may believe that pornography is just a
harmless pastime, part of our liberated culture. That's what they want you to
believe, says author Pamela Paul, known for her social study reports.
"They" are the purveyors of porn who are making a lot of money from
it, she tells.

From the book's cover: "Drawing from the
results of more than 100 interviews (of porn addictive users) and an exclusive
nationwide poll, author Paul exposes how porn has infiltrated and unsettled our
lives … as intimacy is replaced by fantasy, distrust, dissatisfaction, and
emotional isolation. "

Her chapter on kids in a pornified culture may be
the most damning of all. "The effects on children can be disturbing and
devastating." The porn on the internet "affects developing sexuality;
the younger the age of exposure, and the more hard-core the material, the more
intense the effects."

This mini-report just skims thesurface of the book's findings. It does
not give the book justice. Porn is a complicated issue, obfuscated by other
sexual deviances to convince us it is harmless. "The majority of Americans
may shrug off the issue … but the costs are great and will mount…. We need to
find new ways to approach the problem," says the author.

Powerful porn business interests need to sell their
product as acceptable, even natural, normal. There is so much money involved.
"The porn industry likes to portray and position itself as just another
all-American industry. Indeed, porn may be the ultimate capitalistic enterprise:
Low costs, large profit margins, a cheap labor force … and it's out to protect
its interests."

Porn is not protected by the First Amendment, the
author states. Don't let them tell you otherwise.